She has also been very involved in promoting credit unions both locally and nationally in the political arena.

TEAMmarketing Offers Campaigns Year-round

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — TEAMmarketing has revamped its promotional campaign concepts making them available year-round.

“This is a significant change in the way we've made our concepts and designs available to the CU community,” said Becca Campbell, TEAMmarketing manager. “In order to keep pricing as low as possible to our clients, we run these jobs together at specific times of the year. Now, because of operational enhancements, we're able to make all of our designs available 365 days a year and still maintain the same low pricing structure.”

Credit unions can choose from over 54 designs on the TEAMmarketing Web site, including 13 new designs for 2008.

The program is simple. Order by the 5th of the month, approve by the 15th and receive the printed materials by the 1st of the following month.

TEAMmarketing was created by CUNA Mutual in 1995 to help credit unions with cost-effective marketing. PSB, a marketing service provider purchased TEAM in 2005. Today TEAMmarketing offers pre-designed promotional concepts and ideas to help simplify the marketing needs of credit unions. The firm also provides a wide variety of products ranging from inserts, brochures and postcards, to newspaper ads, Web graphics and posters.

Texans CU Sends 'Fan Flyaway' Winner To LA with $1,000

RICHARDSON, Texas. — Frances Bauman of Wylie will soon be on her way to Los Angeles, courtesy of the recent Texans Credit Union Fan Flyaway Promotion.

Texans ran a four-week promotion encouraging fans to open a free FC Dallas Team Checking account. Each new account holder was automatically entered to win a trip to see FC Dallas play the LA Galaxy in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 23.

The prize package includes roundtrip airfare for two, hotel, two tickets to the game and $1,000 Texans Credit Union Visa Gift Card for spending money. Just over 180 checking accounts were opened during the promotion.

PFCU Sponsors Neighborhood-to-Neighborhood Festival

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Federal Credit Union recently sponsored the 18th annual Neighborhood-to-Neighborhood Street Festival and Parade in West Philadelphia.

This year's theme was “Vision of Hope.” The N2N Street Festival and Parade attracts more than 5,000 people annually. During the event, neighbors, friends and community partners come together for a day full of fun and festivities.

PFCU employees were on hand to speak with community members about their financial health and to distribute PFCU literature.

GTE FCU Earns Graphic Design USA Accolades

TAMPA, Fla. — GTE Federal Credit Union picked up three awards in the 2007 American Inhouse Design competition, conducted each year by Graphic Design USA magazine.

The competition recognizes in-house graphic designers and teams within corporations, media companies, nonprofit organizations, educational and governmental institutions. Sponsors are Agfa Graphics and The Creative Group, a unit of staffing firm Robert Half International.

GTE FCU won for the Credit Union Cruise for Kids fundraiser design theme; and for the OSI Bowl logo and OSI Bowl ticket created for activities at the credit union leading up to the core system conversion on January 2, 2007 to the Open Solutions, Inc., platform.

The pieces were selected from among 10,000-plus entries nationwide.

Winners of the American Inhouse Design competition receive a Certificate of Excellence for each piece selected, and their work is considered for inclusion in the American Inhouse Design Awards annual publication that showcases many of the winning entries.

Creative Brand Communications Cascade Community CU's Agency of Record

PORTLAND, Ore. — Creative Brand Communications, Inc., a full-service multi-sensory marketing and experiential brand development agency, is officially the agency of record for Roseburg, Oregon-based Cascade Community Credit Union.

CBC will continue to work in concert with Cascade to enhance the credit union's overall brand and increase its presence in Douglas County.

“CBC and Cascade have forged a strong bond over the last few years and we're thrilled to further expand our relationship to augment the credit union's brand,” said Jeff Stephens, CEO of CBC. “Cascade is a very remarkable credit union and we're excited to prove their unique story through a powerful branding strategy.”

Since 2004, CBC and Cascade Community Credit Union have worked together to develop a fresh brand strategy that positions the credit union as the local-only financial institution.

Scott CU Unveils Extreme Checking

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Scott Credit Union is going to extremes to show it pays to be a member.

Area residents can now earn 6.05% APY on their checking account balance up to $25,000 thanks to the launch of the credit union's new Extreme Checking account.

The unique checking account features no minimum balance and no fees, according to Scott CU Vice President of Marketing Adam Koishor.

“Plus, the account refunds up to $10 each month in ATM fees when our members use other financial institution's ATMs. Basically, it offers free ATM usage nationwide,” said Koishor.

Extreme Checking is designed to reward members for helping the credit union operate more efficiently. To receive the high rate and the ATM refunds, account holders must receive their statement online and make 12 debit card transactions each month.

“Another great thing about Extreme Checking is that if our members don't make the 12 debit card transactions in the month, for instance, the account is still completely free and we still pay them .25% APY on their balance,” Koishor noted. “There is never a minimum balance and never any fees. And they can just start over the next month with the same opportunity to receive the high rate.”

Scott Credit Union has launched several new accounts and has opened new locations in recent months in an effort to make their services even better for its 59,000 members.

Filene Research Institute Recruiting '30 Under 30'

MADISON, WIs. — Filene Research Institute is looking for a few Generation Y credit union professionals.

Filene has initiated a recruitment effort to identify 30 people roughly under the age of 30, who are employed full-time in a credit union industry organization, to form a group called “30 Under 30.”

Participants will serve a one-year term with a focus on fresh and practical ways to make credit unions more relevant to young consumers, young professionals, and young board members. Using their perspectives and experiences the group will develop and test business plans for better serving these key young adult segments.

In forming “30 under 30″ Filene is combining efforts from its traditional research model and borrowing elements of the model that has been so successful for i3, a group of progressive credit union employees who have been collaborating to bring innovative solutions to market since 2005.

The group will be guided by a prominent researcher and author, and managed day-to-day by a credit union leader on sabbatical leave from their organization.

For more information, or to apply, visit www.filene.org/home/research/30u30.